AB1174 BODY COMPOSITION IN POSTMENOPAUSAL WOMEN WITH CHRONIC KNEE PAIN
Authors: N. Grygorieva, N. Zaverukha, A. Musiienko, M. Bystrytska
Journal: Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases (2023)

<h3>Background</h3> Among all the known risk factors, obesity is one of the important risk factors for the incidence and prevalence of osteoarthritis (OA). However, body mass index (BMI), which reflects the severity of obesity, measures only height and weight with no consideration of other obesity-related characteristics, such as fat distribution or deposition. The features of fat deposition and distribution may serve as better indices of the metabolic activity of adipose tissue and can have an important influence on the pain and disability of patients with OA. <h3>Objectives</h3> The study aimed to assess the body composition indices in postmenopausal women with chronic knee pain and its association with pain severity. <h3>Methods</h3> In the single-center study 230 females aged 50-89 years were examined and divided into groups depending on the intensity of chronic (&gt;3 months) knee pain. Knee pain was assessed using the visual analog scale (VAS). Group I consisted of females with mild (VAS &lt; 4 cm) pain (n = 87), group II - subjects with moderate (VAS more than 4, but less than 6 cm) pain (n = 111), and group III - women with severe (VAS ≥ 6 cm) pain (n = 33). The body composition (body weight (BW), height, body mass index (BMI), fat mass (FM), lean mass, appendicular lean mass (ALM) and appendicular lean mass index (ALMI, ALM/height), fat content (fat mass/BW), and ALM/BW) were assessed by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (Lunar, Prodigy). Sarcopenia was determined according to ALM (&lt; 15 kg) or ALMI (&lt; 6 kg/m2), obesity - as BMI &gt; 30 kg/m<sup>2</sup>, sarcopenic obesity as a combination of high-fat mass/BW (&gt; 40 %) and low ALM/BW (&lt; 23.47 % for females younger than 65 years old and &lt; 19.4 % for females 65 years and older). <h3>Results</h3> All three groups did not significantly differ in age (F = 2.5, p &gt; 0.05), age of menopause (F = 0.6, p &gt; 0.05), and its duration (F = 0.4, p &gt; 0.05). Women of different groups did not differ in height, however, BW was higher in group III than in groups II and I (84.6 ± 13.8 vs. 77.9 ± 13.9 and 73.0 ± 12.1 kg, F = 9.6, p &lt; 0.0001), as BMI (30.6 ± 5.5 vs. 34.2±6.4, and 30.9±4.9 kg/m<sup>2</sup>, F = 13.5, p &lt; 0.00001). The females with chronic severe knee pain had higher ALM (P &lt; 0.0001), ALMI (P &lt; 0.000001), and FM/BW (P &lt; 0.05) compared to the women with mild knee pain. The frequency of obesity was 36.8 % in women with mild pain, 52.2 % of subjects in group II and significantly higher among females with severe pain - 63.6 % (χ<sup>2</sup> = 4.5, p &lt; 0.05 in comparison with group I). Sarcopenic obesity was registered in 18.4, 27.9, and 36.4 % of females of the I, II, and III groups, respectively. It was significantly more frequent among women with severe than mild pain (χ<sup>2</sup> = 4.3, p &lt; 0.04). However, sarcopenia was found in 13.8 % of women in group I, 14.4 % of subjects of group II and 6% of group III according to ALM as well as in 11.5, 10.8, and 6 %, respectively according to ALMI without significant differences. <h3>Conclusion</h3> Women with severe chronic knee pain have significantly higher BW, BMI, ALM, and fat mass than females with mild pain. Despite the absence of differences in sarcopenia frequency, the subjects with severe knee pain have not only an increased frequency of obesity but also high sarcopenic obesity. <h3>References</h3> [1]Jeanmaire C, Mazières B, Verrouil E et al. Body composition and clinical symptoms in patients with hip or knee osteoarthritis: Results from the KHOALA cohort. Seminars in Arthritis and Rheumatism,2018;47(6):797-804. doi: 10.1016/j.semarthrit.2017.10.012. [2]Li S, Schwartz AV, LaValley MP, Wang N, Desai N, Sun X, Neogi T, Nevitt M, Lewis CE, Guermazi A, Roemer F, Segal N et al.; Multicenter Osteoarthritis Study Group. Association of visceral adiposity with pain but not structural osteoarthritis. Arthritis Rheumatol. 2020 Jul;72(7):1103-1110. doi: 10.1002/art.41222. <h3>Acknowledgements:</h3> NIL. <h3>Disclosure of Interests</h3> None Declared.